Put in four decimal prices and the stake you want on each line. The calculator settles all fifteen bets, four singles and the eleven combinations above them, then gives you the outlay and the return for any number of winners. One winner still pays something here, which is the reason people choose it over a Yankee.
Four Singles, Then Everything Else
A Lucky 15 is a Yankee with the singles put back. Four selections, four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one fourfold.
The singles change the character of the bet rather than its ceiling. They add nothing dramatic to the all-win return, and they turn the days when three of your four came in from disappointing into profitable.
Fifteen lines means fifteen units of stake. Type £2 and you are committing £30.
A Worked Example
Four selections at decimal 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 2.0, with £2 on each of the fifteen bets.
- Total outlay: 15 bets × £2.00 = £30.00.
- All four win: total return £250.00, profit £220.00.
- The 3.0 shot loses: the surviving bets return £61.00 against the £30.00 staked, a profit of £31.00.
- The same four selections as a Yankee: 11 bets × £2.00 = £22.00 outlay, £231.00 return, £209.00 profit if all four land.
Three winners out of four turned £30.00 into £61.00 because three singles, three doubles and a treble all settled. Strip the singles out and the surviving lines are the doubles and the treble alone.
Reading the One-Loser Row First
Most bettors read the all-win row and stop there. The row that decides whether a Lucky 15 was the right shape is the one below it.
At four selections, three winners happens far more often than four does, and that row is where your four singles either cover the extra outlay or fail to. In the example the answer was £31.00 of profit on a £30.00 stake, driven by a 3.0 loser and three winners at 2.0, 2.5 and 2.0.
Change the losing leg and the row changes with it. Lose the 2.0 instead of the 3.0 and the three surviving singles are longer, the surviving doubles are longer, and the return climbs. The calculator handles each permutation so you can see which leg your bet can afford to lose.
The Bonus Terms Are Not in This Calculator
Bookmakers built the Lucky 15 as a promotional bet, and most attach terms to it: a percentage bonus when all four win, or double the odds on a single winner. Those offers differ by firm, by sport and sometimes by market, and several exclude non-runners or ante-post prices. Nothing in this calculator models a bonus, so read your account’s rules before treating one as part of the return.
The bookmaker’s cut applies to every one of the fifteen lines. The Hold / Vig Calculator measures it on one market: prices of 1.65 and 2.20 imply 60.61% and 45.45%, adding to 106.06% rather than 100%. Combination bets compound that per leg, the same way the Parlay Calculator shows margin stacking across an accumulator, so a fourfold carries four helpings of it.
Fifteen units of outlay also punishes weak fourth selections harder than a Yankee does. Adding a name you do not rate gives it a single, a share of three doubles, a share of three trebles and the fourfold, all funded by you.
Further Reading
- All betting calculators: the full library of 34 free tools
- Staking and bankroll: how should you stake?
- Losing runs and variance: what to expect
How many bets are in a Lucky 15?
Fifteen: four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one fourfold from four selections. Your unit stake applies to each line, so a £2 Lucky 15 costs £30.00. Four selections at 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 2.0 return £250.00 when all four win, a profit of £220.00.
What does a Lucky 15 return if one selection loses?
It depends on which one. In the worked example above, four selections at 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 2.0 with the 3.0 beaten returned £61.00 against a £30.00 outlay, a profit of £31.00. Three singles, three doubles and a treble all survived. Losing a shorter-priced leg leaves longer survivors and a larger return.
Do bookmakers pay a bonus on a Lucky 15?
Many do, and the terms are not standard. Common offers include a percentage uplift when all four selections win and double the odds when only one does. Firms apply their own exclusions around non-runners, ante-post markets and minimum prices. Check your bookmaker’s rules, because this calculator reports the raw returns without any bonus applied.
Is a Lucky 15 better than a Yankee?
The Lucky 15 costs more and protects more. At a £2 unit the outlay runs £30.00 against the Yankee’s £22.00, and the all-win return £250.00 against £231.00. The gap that matters is the three-winner row, where the Lucky 15 in the example above made £31.00 profit while a Yankee holds only doubles and a treble.